Sportsnet: Senators' year-end award winners: Tkachuk the MVP, Norris top rookie

AchtzehnBaby

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Senators' year-end award winners: Tkachuk the MVP, Norris top rookie

Naming the Senators' most valuable player is not as much of a slam dunk as some might think. A case could easily be made that no one is more valuable than defenceman Thomas Chabot. Chabot plays 26 minutes per game, faces the opposition’s best forwards, quarterbacks the power play, leads the Senators in assists (25) and was fourth in points when he was shut down for the rest of the season with an upper body injury after Monday’s win over Winnipeg.



 

supsens

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Oct 6, 2013
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I am sorry but Connor Brown is the MVP of this season. Second up is Chabot.

I think Norris is, without him I am not sure White and Tierney would have done much against the other centers in the north.
Dead last without him
 

Sun God Nika

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Apr 22, 2013
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Zub is my MVP. and top rookie is a tie between norris and stutzle gun to my head I pick Norris but stutzle was more impressive due to age and experience.

Zub and his presence turned this team around
 

aragorn

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Aug 8, 2004
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1. B. Tkachuk - best player on the team by far & played on the best line, should be Captain.
2. D. Batherson - was right behind Tkachuk for most of the yr in pts, great playmaker.
3. J. Norris - had an outstanding first yr & was right there with Batherson.
4. Daccord & Gustavsson - both came in when the team stunk & probably saved the season.
5. T. Chabot - played big minutes & got his expected pts, but was bad defensively at times. He is still one of the best players on this team & in the league.
6. A. Zub - quietly came in & seemed to settle the defence down & made Reilly better
7. C. Brown - had a very impressive end to the season & was quietly good all yr in all zones
8. T. Stutzle - 30 pts in his first yr, not bad & may have found his linemates in Pinto & C. Brown
9. N. Paul - very good defensive forward, takes faceoffs, plays the PK, block shots & fights
10. N. Zaitsev - had a very good yr, played solid defensively all yr long & much better than expected
11. S. Pinto - came in & in just a few games has shown he has top six & 2nd line C potential
12. A Formenton - he belongs on this team & should be here full time next season
13. JBD - small sample size, but looks better every game to be a solid two way defenceman
14. E. Brannstrom - still has problems being hemmed in his own zone against big forwards, but can accumulate pts & skate the puck out of his own zone effectively.
15. V. Mete - small sample size, good fast skater, slightly better than Brannstrom defensively
16. A Watson - played his role well, fast skater, good hitter & blocks a lot of shots

Dadonov was okay, has some skill but makes a lot of mistakes & leaves me wanting more from him given his experience. White has been up & down, but mostly disappointing especially in the offensive zone where he seems completely out of sink at times. Tierny has been okay too, but the sooner he is replaced the better the team will be. I like Dzingel, but his time has passed & Ottawa has better prospects, they should let him walk at the end of the season. Hogberg was terrible to start the season as was Murray, they should also let Hog walk at yr's end, IMO he has been passed by both Daccord & Gustavsson & since they have re-signed Forsberg for next yr they don't need him. J. Brown has a contract for next yr & will play when they need another tough guy to fight.
 

Bileur

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Jun 15, 2004
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Chabot is the best player. Brady is the MVP.

Brady’s the one leading the guys into the fight every night. He’s brought consistent effort and production all year long. He seems to be a big part of the culture and development going on the team even inviting Norris and Stutzle to live with him.

Brown has also had a great season and even in his cold stretches was playing the right way, he should be in the conversation with Brady and Chabot.
 

The Devilish Buffoon

🇵🇸 viva 🇵🇸 free 🇵🇸
Dec 24, 2018
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Chabot is the clear MVP... I'd say we've had 9 regulars who have been instrumental to any success we've had, in the following tiers:

1. Chabot
----------------
2/3. Tkachuk/Brown
----------------
4/5/6. Norris/Batherson/Zub
7/8/9. Stutzle/Zaitsev/Paul
----------------
 
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Xspyrit

DJ Dorion
Jun 29, 2008
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1. B. Tkachuk - best player on the team by far & played on the best line, should be Captain.
2. D. Batherson - was right behind Tkachuk for most of the yr in pts, great playmaker.
3. J. Norris - had an outstanding first yr & was right there with Batherson.
4. Daccord & Gustavsson - both came in when the team stunk & probably saved the season.
5. T. Chabot - played big minutes & got his expected pts, but was bad defensively at times. He is still one of the best players on this team & in the league.
6. A. Zub - quietly came in & seemed to settle the defence down & made Reilly better
7. C. Brown - had a very impressive end to the season & was quietly good all yr in all zones
8. T. Stutzle - 30 pts in his first yr, not bad & may have found his linemates in Pinto & C. Brown
9. N. Paul - very good defensive forward, takes faceoffs, plays the PK, block shots & fights
10. N. Zaitsev - had a very good yr, played solid defensively all yr long & much better than expected
11. S. Pinto - came in & in just a few games has shown he has top six & 2nd line C potential
12. A Formenton - he belongs on this team & should be here full time next season
13. JBD - small sample size, but looks better every game to be a solid two way defenceman
14. E. Brannstrom - still has problems being hemmed in his own zone against big forwards, but can accumulate pts & skate the puck out of his own zone effectively.
15. V. Mete - small sample size, good fast skater, slightly better than Brannstrom defensively
16. A Watson - played his role well, fast skater, good hitter & blocks a lot of shots

Dadonov was okay, has some skill but makes a lot of mistakes & leaves me wanting more from him given his experience. White has been up & down, but mostly disappointing especially in the offensive zone where he seems completely out of sink at times. Tierny has been okay too, but the sooner he is replaced the better the team will be. I like Dzingel, but his time has passed & Ottawa has better prospects, they should let him walk at the end of the season. Hogberg was terrible to start the season as was Murray, they should also let Hog walk at yr's end, IMO he has been passed by both Daccord & Gustavsson & since they have re-signed Forsberg for next yr they don't need him. J. Brown has a contract for next yr & will play when they need another tough guy to fight.

Agreed with some stuff in there but I have to admit that I found this amusing :

4. Daccord & Gustavsson - both came in when the team stunk & probably saved the season

There was no season to save, Sens were basically eliminated from the playoffs after 15 games. Daccord has 1 win in 5 games, he came when the team was progressing but was still pretty bad defensively on the road. Daccord has a 0.887 SV% on the road without being bad at all. It's a reflection of how bad defensively this team was on the road for most of the season, until recently, except last night I guess. Flames scored 6 goals and had several posts too. Last night was reminiscent of every road game earlier in the season

Gustavsson came when the team was further down the road and had improved a lot as they got rid of the players that didn't allow that improvement. Also, young guys had more time to improve and coaching more time to work and instill hockey systems. That being said, Gus has been excellent and our best goalie this season. We absolutely need to protect him for the Seattle ED

Other than that, some thoughts :

1- Don't agree that Tkachuk is the best player on the team and won't be going forward. The 2 best players will easily be Chabot and Stutzle. Tkachuk is as impactful though.

2- Agreed, although Batherson is supposed to primarly be a playmaker, he was a great scorer too.

5- I wouldn't say he was bad defensively but he made too many turnovers, which IMO was the result of him not having enough support and playing way too much against top competition. He was playing injured most of the season too. He cut on those turnovers as his job got "easier" and the team around him improved

6- Zub might be the reason why we got a 3rd round pick for Reilly! He's also helping Brannstrom now. Zub signing has paid a lot already

9- Exactly, as long as people don't see him and expect him to be an offensive player, he will be seen very positively. When he produces offense, it's a bonus. He's very capable of playmaking and shooting too but he's primarly a defensive forward. Great guy to have in the bottom-6, can't have all the guys to produce a lot, it would be too expensive and you need to prevent GA as much as you need offense.

10- Earned his salary this season.

15- I would say that Mete is significantly better than Brannstrom, but don't expect much in terms offense. His speed/mobility alone makes him efficient. No idea why Montreal thought there was no spot for him. They need speed on the back-end.

Dadonov is disappointing. He is on pace for 20 goals which is not that bad but not enough for him, he just didn't provide enough offense for his contract and role he should have had on the team. He has skill but he breaks a lot of plays because he seems to lack focus at times. He is also too easy to push around. NHL D-men just take the body on him and that's it, they can break out easily.
 
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aragorn

Do The Right Thing
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Agreed with some stuff in there but I have to admit that I found this amusing :

4. Daccord & Gustavsson - both came in when the team stunk & probably saved the season

There was no season to save, Sens were basically eliminated from the playoffs after 15 games. Daccord has 1 win in 5 games, he came when the team was progressing but was still pretty bad defensively on the road. Daccord has a 0.887 SV% on the road without being bad at all. It's a reflection of how bad defensively this team was on the road for most of the season, until recently, except last night I guess. Flames scored 6 goals and had several posts too. Last night was reminiscent of every road game earlier in the season

Gustavsson came when the team was further down the road and had improved a lot as they got rid of the players that didn't allow that improvement. Also, young guys had more time to improve and coaching more time to work and instill hockey systems. That being said, Gus has been excellent and our best goalie this season. We absolutely need to protect him for the Seattle ED

Other than that, some thoughts :

1- Don't agree that Tkachuk is the best player on the team and won't be going forward. The 2 best players will easily be Chabot and Stutzle. Tkachuk is as impactful though.

2- Agreed, although Batherson is supposed to primarly be a playmaker, he was a great scorer too.

5- I wouldn't say he was bad defensively but he made too many turnovers, which IMO was the result of him not having enough support and playing way too much against top competition. He was playing injured most of the season too. He cut on those turnovers as his job got "easier" and the team around him improved

6- Zub might be the reason why we got a 3rd round pick for Reilly! He's also helping Brannstrom now. Zub signing has paid a lot already

9- Exactly, as long as people don't see him and expect him to be an offensive player, he will be seen very positively. When he produces offense, it's a bonus. He's very capable of playmaking and shooting too but he's primarly a defensive forward. Great guy to have in the bottom-6, can't have all the guys to produce a lot, it would be too expensive and you need to prevent GA as much as you need offense.

10- Earned his salary this season.

15- I would say that Mete is significantly better than Brannstrom, but don't expect much in terms offense. His speed/mobility alone makes him efficient. No idea why Montreal thought there was no spot for him. They need speed on the back-end.

Dadonov is disappointing. He is on pace for 20 goals which is not that bad but not enough for him, he just didn't provide enough offense for his contract and role he should have had on the team. He has skill but he breaks a lot of plays because he seems to lack focus at times. He is also too easy to push around. NHL D-men just take the body on him and that's it, they can break out easily.

What I meant by "saving the season" was that at the start of the season the team was absolutely terrible especially the goaltending & worse than most people expected for a last place team & the comments in here proved that. Once Murray & Hogberg were injured the goaltending improved, most were very happy with Daccord, Forsberg & Gustavsson which IMO turned the team around. They gave the team the opportunity to win games & weren't letting in so many bad goals that deflated the team as Murray & Hogberg were doing earlier on.

The goalie coach was replaced for a reason & that was because the two NHL goalies were terrible, the coach responsible for the defence didn't get replaced it was the goalie coach. Ottawa actually got some picks back for the defencemen they traded I doubt they will be able to move either Murray or Hogberg after this season. Do you think that Hogeberg will be back next yr? IMO he won't because he sucked so badly this yr after a rather good end of the season the previous yr. The only reason Murray will be back is because he has a contract & I doubt anyone wants him after his performance this season, I doubt Seattle takes him for free. That's what I meant by saving the season, we all knew they were going to be a last place team & it wasn't until the goaltending got better that the team started improving which gave the fans hope again & now we have a team that most look forward to for next yr. Before that it looked hopeless.

I disagree with you on Tkachuk IMO his impact is obvious & it's much more likely that this team would follow Tkuchuk before Chabot or Stutzle. They don't talk about Chabot the way they talk about Tkachuk, he seems to be the focal point of every conversation in every game with the media. They will both likely outscore him at some point, but that IMO doesn't make them the better players, it makes them better offensive players. Tkachuk does more to impact every game than just score & he does that as well. Batherson & Norris IMO are both complete players too. Chabot is one of the best offensive defencemen in the league, but Tkachuk IMO is more valuable. I think it will take a little while for Stutzle to be a complete player, but there is no denying his offensive ability. We agree on Mete but let's face it, that 2nd LD spot is Sandersons whenever he arrives, it will be the 3rd LD spot that will be challenged in future. Given his age & contract I doubt they will be able to move Dadonov until maybe his last yr, but he could still be an effective player for them in the bottom six until a better prospect emerges.
 
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Xspyrit

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Jun 29, 2008
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What I meant by "saving the season" was that at the start of the season the team was absolutely terrible especially the goaltending & worse than most people expected for a last place team & the comments in here proved that. Once Murray & Hogberg were injured the goaltending improved, most were very happy with Daccord, Forsberg & Gustavsson which IMO turned the team around. They gave the team the opportunity to win games & weren't letting in so many bad goals that deflated the team as Murray & Hogberg were doing earlier on.

The goalie coach was replaced for a reason & that was because the two NHL goalies were terrible, the coach responsible for the defence didn't get replaced it was the goalie coach. Ottawa actually got some picks back for the defencemen they traded I doubt they will be able to move either Murray or Hogberg after this season. Do you think that Hogeberg will be back next yr? IMO he won't because he sucked so badly this yr after a rather good end of the season the previous yr. The only reason Murray will be back is because he has a contract & I doubt anyone wants him after his performance this season, I doubt Seattle takes him for free. That's what I meant by saving the season, we all knew they were going to be a last place team & it wasn't until the goaltending got better that the team started improving which gave the fans hope again & now we have a team that most look forward to for next yr. Before that it looked hopeless.

I disagree with you on Tkachuk IMO his impact is obvious & it's much more likely that this team would follow Tkuchuk before Chabot or Stutzle. They don't talk about Chabot the way they talk about Tkachuk, he seems to be the focal point of every conversation in every game with the media. They will both likely outscore him at some point, but that IMO doesn't make them the better players, it makes them better offensive players. Tkachuk does more to impact every game than just score & he does that as well. Batherson & Norris IMO are both complete players too. Chabot is one of the best offensive defencemen in the league, but Tkachuk IMO is more valuable. I think it will take a little while for Stutzle to be a complete player, but there is no denying his offensive ability. We agree on Mete but let's face it, that 2nd LD spot is Sandersons whenever he arrives, it will be the 3rd LD spot that will be challenged in future. Given his age & contract I doubt they will be able to move Dadonov until maybe his last yr, but he could still be an effective player for them in the bottom six until a better prospect emerges.

I'm still very surprised to read that people would have that opinion... It seems pretty obvious to me that the "team defense" improved A LOT during the season (mainly on the ROAD), as they fixed the personnel (players) issues and structural deficiencies (defensive coverage, breakout strategies, hockey systems, etc... all of this is coaching's work who have to make the players play a system efficiently. There's always a limit to this with the talent in place but some coaches have proven to be very efficient defensively, Hitchcock probably the most renown for that)

Some VERY obvious proofs :

- Look at all Sens goalies stats at home vs road all season.

Gustavsson : 0.950 vs 0.914 (+ 0.36 at home)
Daccord : 0.911 vs 0.887 (+ 0.24 at home)
Murray : 0.909 vs 0.875 (+ 0.34 at home)
Forsberg : 0.933 vs 0.889 (+ 0.44 at home)
Hogberg : 0.898 vs 0.866 (+ 0.32 at home)

- Look at Murray/Hogberg stats earlier in the season vs after when they came back from injury. They didn't just coincidentally/magically went from ECHL level goalies to good/superstars NHL goalies.

Murray before April : 0.880 SV%
Murray since April : 0.954 V% (+ 0.74)
Hogberg before April : 0.859 SV%
Hogberg since April : 0.912 SV% (+ 0.53)

The question is :

Do you really believe that all of this is just a coincidence?

I wouldn't grant much credibility in terms of hockey understanding to anyone answering yes to that question.

PS : never been very high on Hogberg, either he was just a placeholder and hopefully they didn't think he could have been a long term solution. Matt Murray absolutely has #1 starter ability, and well he already dominated both the NHL and AHL. But will need to be healthier going forward, too many injuries (even though it's normal goalies get injuries)

===========================================

Regarding Tkachuk, I think you didn't read correctly? I said he's as impactful or will be as impactful as the best Sens players. But he's not and never will be the best Sens player. He doesn't have Chabot or Stutzle elite talent. Not talking about leadership here, I'm talking about Tkachuk not being the "best player on the team by far", which is what you said in the post I initially quoted. My players "scouting report" is not really based on how the medias talk about players...

Don't think it will take very long for Sutzle to be considered a star. Maybe it will take a bit more time to be considered elite.

Finally, regarding Mete, I never wanted him on the 2nd pair. He's perfect at 3rd line LD IMO.
 
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aragorn

Do The Right Thing
Aug 8, 2004
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I'm still very surprised to read that people would have that opinion... It seems pretty obvious to me that the "team defense" improved A LOT during the season (mainly on the ROAD), as they fixed the personnel (players) issues and structural deficiencies (defensive coverage, breakout strategies, hockey systems, etc... all of this is coaching's work who have to make the players play a system efficiently. There's always a limit to this with the talent in place but some coaches have proven to be very efficient defensively, Hitchcock probably the most renown for that)

Some VERY obvious proofs :

- Look at all Sens goalies stats at home vs road all season.

Gustavsson : 0.950 vs 0.914 (+ 0.36 at home)
Daccord : 0.911 vs 0.887 (+ 0.24 at home)
Murray : 0.909 vs 0.875 (+ 0.34 at home)
Forsberg : 0.933 vs 0.889 (+ 0.44 at home)
Hogberg : 0.898 vs 0.866 (+ 0.32 at home)

- Look at Murray/Hogberg stats earlier in the season vs after when they came back from injury. They didn't just coincidentally/magically went from ECHL level goalies to good/superstars NHL goalies.

Murray before April : 0.880 SV%
Murray since April : 0.954 V% (+ 0.74)
Hogberg before April : 0.859 SV%
Murray since April : 0.912 SV% (+ 0.53)

The question is :

Do you really believe that all of this is just a coincidence?

I wouldn't grant much credibility in terms of hockey understanding to anyone answering yes to that question.

PS : never been very high on Hogberg, either he was just a placeholder and hopefully they didn't think he could have been a long term solution. Matt Murray absolutely has #1 starter ability, and well he already dominated both the NHL and AHL. But will need to be healthier going forward, too many injuries (even though it's normal goalies get injuries)

===========================================

Regarding Tkachuk, I think you didn't read correctly? I said he's as impactful or will be as impactful as the best Sens players. But he's not and never will be the best Sens player. He doesn't have Chabot or Stutzle elite talent. Not talking about leadership here, I'm talking about Tkachuk not being the "best player on the team by far", which is what you said in the post I initially quoted. My players "scouting report" is not really based on how the medias talk about players...

Don't think it will take very long for Sutzle to be considered a star. Maybe it will take a bit more time to be considered elite.

Finally, regarding Mete, I never wanted him on the 2nd pair. He's perfect at 3rd line LD IMO.
None of this changes my opinion, the team got better when the goaltending got better, it's blatantly obvious. Once they stopped allowing weak goals that deflated the team, it gave the team the opportunity to win. All of what you said regarding the coaches goes without saying, as they got more & more practices in they were able to improve on the system details, but none of it would have mattered without first keeping the puck out of their net & giving the team a chance to win every game.

They were better at home than away, next yr it could be the reverse, the goalies that helped this team win was not the two NHL goalies that started the yr, isn't that obvious? They eventually won some later mostly Murray but he still wasn't playing up to his contract & what they expected which is why he won't be protected.

Regarding Tkachuk, I know he is not the kind of player people on here like, but without him this team would be much worse. Chabot is a great player, but I would take Tkachuk over Chabot any day & why I think he deserves to be captain over Chabot. Stutzle is going to be a great player, again not exactly the type of player I like, I prefer the way Batherson & Norris play, they are both going to improve too, not just Stutzle. Elite I reserve more for guys like Gretzky, Lemieux, Orr, Lidstrom, Bourque, Crosby, OV, McDavid, I think Stutzle has a way to go before calling him elite.
 

El Diego

Registered User
Jan 2, 2009
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Joey Daccord played in 8 games this season (started 6), has 1 win and a sub .900 save percentage.

Whatever mental gymnastics you have to do to consider him more valuable than Thomas Chabot, be careful because you're likely going to pull a brain muscle. I'm sorry, but that is just absurd. Please seriously consider if you have a bias toward Chabot.
 

BonHoonLayneCornell

Registered User
Oct 16, 2006
15,229
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Yukon
Not really concerned about specifics, but the group of 5 guys below is who I feel deserves the most recognition.

Tkachuk (Has had some rough patches but has been mostly consistent and plays his game)
Chabot (tough start but he was on a D island devoid of talent and chemistry)
Norris (Center position would have been an absolute mess without him, clearly the best one on the roster)
Zub (settled the D down almost immediately)
Brown (learned how to hit the barn finally and killed it)

Honorable mention to Murray whenever he was out of the lineup.
 
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swiftwin

★SUMMER.OF.PIERRE★
Jul 26, 2005
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Chabot is the clear MVP... I'd say we've had 9 regulars who have been instrumental to any success we've had, in the following tiers:

1. Chabot
----------------
2/3. Tkachuk/Brown
----------------
4/5/6. Norris/Batherson/Zub
7/8/9. Stutzle/Zaitsev/Paul
----------------

Mostly agree with this list.

Brown is getting the shaft on many of these lists. He's 2nd on the team in TOI among forwards, leads the team in goals (despite not being on the PP), is a phenom on the PK, and is overall an outstanding vet and mentor for the kids. I'd even put Brown as the #2, clearly ahead of Tkachuk.
 

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